Bekaert NV

Earnings Release • May 14, 2025

Press release Regulated Information 14 May 2025 • 7:00 a.m. CET Investor Relations Guy Marks T +32 56 76 74 73 guy.marks@bekaert.com

Press Kim De Raedt T +32 56 76 60 16 kim.deraedt@bekaert.com

bekaert.com

Trading update for the first three months of 2025

Navigating challenging markets successfully

Financial highlights

• Q1 2025 consolidated sales of € 991 million (-3% vs Q1 2024) driven by:
  • Like for like volumes were down -1% (€ -12 million)
  • Price-mix reduced sales by -1% (€ -11 million)
  • Pricing impact from the pass-through of lower input costs was -2% (€ -23 million)
  • Portfolio change <+1% (€ +4 million)
  • Currency impact +1% (€ +9 million)
• Sales from joint ventures (non-consolidated) of € 214 million (-2% vs Q1 2024)
• Central overhead and operating cost savings partially offsetting margin pressures from the challenging market environment
• Lower capital expenditure requirements for 2025, growth platforms well positioned
• Intensive working capital focus to maintain robust cash flows
• Balance sheet remains strong with low financial leverage
  • Dividend of € 1.90 per share proposed at AGM
  • Ongoing two-year € 200 million share buyback program with around € 50 million purchased to date

Operational and strategic highlights

• Rubber Reinforcement strong performance in China offsetting volume decreases in Europe and North America; continued overcapacity and uncertainty over tariffs
• Steel Wire Solutions solid sales performance both on volumes and mix
• BBRG production output reliability maintained for Steel Ropes in UK and North America; tariff uncertainty delaying customer orders in Ropes and lower hoisting demand in China
• Specialty Businesses Sustainable Construction experiencing project delays in flooring in North America, while adoption accelerates in growth markets; as expected, lower contribution from Ultra Fine Wires
• Steel Wire Solutions disposal in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Venezuela on track

Tariff impacts

The introduction of tariffs, the threat of further tariffs and escalating trade tensions are creating significant uncertainty for Bekaert, its suppliers and customers. Bekaert is a global business which benefits from a relatively high proportion of local sourcing and local production, and a business model where it is typical to pass on additional costs such as raw material or energy costs to its customers. The group is successfully negotiating increased pricing with its customers to include the additional tariffs. The financial impact of the tariffs to date has been minimal.

In several business segments, most notably construction, customers are delaying orders or investment decisions awaiting clarity on the tariff situation. Beyond the simple application of tariffs to products and raw materials, there are larger, long-term questions as to how these tariffs will affect end market demand, change trade flows between regions, encourage substitution of alternative products and materials, and ultimately impact economies around the world. How these longer-term effects will impact is very uncertain at this stage and could be material.

Outlook

As outlined previously, the difficult market conditions of the second half of 2024 continued into Q1 2025 and in response Bekaert took actions to protect margins and cash flows. This weak business environment is expected to persist with the ongoing uncertainty around tariffs, global trade and macro-economic outlook.

To date, Bekaert has been able to mitigate the impact of tariffs through local sourcing and production and with the direct pass through of tariff effects on raw materials and finished goods. Therefore, at the currently anticipated tariff levels and excluding any impacts from additional tariffs, the indirect and longer term impacts of tariffs or further economic deterioration, the group expects stable sales and EBITu margins for the full year 2025 compared with 2024, with a more equally weighted first and second half split.

Conference call for analysts and investors

Yves Kerstens, CEO, and Seppo Parvi, CFO, will present Bekaert's Q1 2025 trading update to analysts and investors at 09:00 a.m. CET on Wednesday 14 May. This presentation can be accessed live upon registration (registration link) and will be available on Bekaert's website after the event.

Sales for the first three months of 2025

Consolidated third party sales	2024	2025	Share	Variance	Organic	FX	M&A
Rubber Reinforcement	447	429	43 %	-4 %	-5 %	+1 %	—
Steel Wire Solutions	282	280	28 %	-1 %	-2 %	+1 %	—
BBRG	130	141	14 %	+8 %	-2 %	+1 %	+10 %
Specialty Businesses	165	139	14 %	-15 %	-16 %	— %	—
Group	2	2	-	-	-	-	-
Total	1 025	991	100 %	-3 %	-5 %	+1 %	+1 %

Consolidated sales per segment (in millions of €)

Segment overview

Rubber Reinforcement

Q1 2025 sales amounted to € 429 million (-4%). Volumes were flat, while the impact from lower raw materials was -3.0%. Price and mix effects decreased sales by -2.2% and currency impact was +1.0%. Volumes significantly increased in China, offsetting lower volumes in Europe and North America mainly due to lower demand for truck tires. While the average sales price is impacted by comparatively more sales volumes in China, the high plant utilization in China is supporting profitability. Q1 2025 sales from the Rubber Reinforcement joint venture in Brazil, not included in consolidated sales, amounted to € 45 million (€ 42 million last year).

Bekaert launched its ElytaTM brand of next generation ultra and mega tensile strength reinforcement solutions. These innovative solutions enable lighter, more robust and efficient tire performance with a lower carbon footprint. Bekaert won the Material Innovation Award at Tire Tech Expo 2025 for these mega tensile reinforcement solutions, another example of its innovation capabilities and technology leadership.

Market perspectives

The global tire market is expected to remain subdued amid the economic and trade uncertainty as well as changing global supply chains. However, Bekaert is well positioned to mitigate these challenges with its regionally diversified production footprint and ability to supply from a number of low cost locations. The business is negotiating the full pass-through of tariffs and is closely monitoring changes in demand and competition in all markets. It remains very focused on key account management and its cost-base.

Steel Wire Solutions

Q1 2025 sales amounted to € 280 million (-1%) and volumes were -2.0% lower. Excluding the impact of the closure of operations in India and Indonesia, volumes actually increased by +2.7%. The impact from lower raw material costs was -1.6%. Price and mix effects added +1.9% and the currency impact was +1.1%. Sales of the Steel Wire Solutions joint venture in Brazil, not included in consolidated sales, amounted to € 169 million (€ 178 million last year).

Volumes in EMEA, the largest region in SWS, increased by +2% with strong sales in agriculture and consumer products. Capacities for cable armoring wires for energy and utility markets are fully booked in Europe. In China, volumes were up +14% driven by strong demand for automotive components. Volumes also increased by +4% in North America driven by peak agriculture season and energy and utility sales. Volumes in Latin America decreased by -2%. Overall, price and mix effects were positive due to better regional mix and price actions.

Market perspectives

Order books are strong, benefiting from increasing sales to energy and utility customers in Europe and North America which also has a positive impact on mix. To date, the impact of announced tariffs on end market sales has been relatively low with the majority of business coming from local production and higher raw material prices being passed on to customers (including the 25% US tariff on imported steel).

Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group

Q1 2025 sales amounted to € 141 million (+8%), in line with expectations and mainly due to the acquisition of BEXCO (+9.7%). Volumes were broadly flat for the division in total (+0.6%) and price-mix impacts were -2.7% driven by a higher weight of ropes versus advanced cord volumes. There were small effects from raw material costs (+0.4%) and currencies (+0.5%).

Volumes in the steel ropes business grew with 2% mainly in the Americas and in China for mining as well as oil and gas end markets. The production entities in the UK and North America maintained output reliability with some further equipment investment required this year to ensure consistent production in the longer-term. Global uncertainty around tariffs however, is leading to a slowdown in customer activity in Ropes. In the Advanced Cords sub-segment, lower elevator hoisting demand in China has impacted volumes (-6%).

Market perspectives

The overall markets in the steel ropes business remain very mixed with slower order intake in mining and crane and industrial markets while there is a healthy pipeline for oil and gas projects. The demand for advanced cord applications is expected to remain stable.

Specialty Businesses

Q1 2025 sales amounted to € 139 million (-15%). Currency impact was +0.3%.

In Sustainable Construction, volumes decreased by -10% and sales by -14% impacted by regional and project mix particularly in the largest subsegment of flooring. In flooring in North America there have been delays to industrial projects especially in automotive and logistics sectors due to the more uncertain business environment. In Europe, lower demand led to increased price competition which has impacted volumes. However, in the higher-growth markets of India, China and the Middle East adoption of steel fiber reinforced concrete (Dramix®) is accelerating leading to project wins and volume growth. The tunneling and infrastructure subsegments had a solid Q1 with volume growth and a healthy pipeline for the coming months. Cost management remains a significant focus to offset the declining volumes and challenging mix effects.

The other segments had a comparable sales decline versus Q1 2024 (-16%). Sales in the Hydrogen segment were stable year-on-year as the project delays and high customer stocks have slowed sales growth. As anticipated, following the technology shift in solar applications, the sales of ultra fine wires were significantly down versus Q1 2024, but remained in line with Q4 2024. Semiconductor applications remain a growing and profitable niche business for ultra fine wires. In the Combustion Technologies sub-segment, sales were lower versus a strong comparable last year and driven by raw material shortages with recovery expected in the coming months. In the Hose and Conveyor belt subsegments, sales were below Q1 last year, while there was a solid improvement versus Q4 2024. The market position of this subsegment remains stable through its differentiated product offering.

Market perspectives

Whilst uncertainty in North America is impacting the flooring business, solid growth is expected in the flooring business in the smaller, but growing markets in India, China and the Middle East. A recovery is also expected from a low Q1 in Europe, the largest market for Sustainable Construction. Additional projects were secured for industrial investments in the Middle East, port pavements in Europe and repeat order business in India. These all demonstrate continued market adoption. The tunneling and infrastructure subsegments are more resilient in all regions.

Overall the energy transition end markets have a subdued outlook. While there is a positive expectation on smaller niche businesses or regions, the current challenges in renewable energy, changes in ultra fine wires and combustion end markets will impact the top line in 2025 with a later return to growth. Customer interest in our innovative solutions remains high.

Other information

Share buyback and treasury shares

Bekaert is continuing with its two-year € 200 million share buyback program, which started in November 2024 and has purchased shares for cancellation of around € 50 million worth of shares. On 31 December 2024, Bekaert held 2 235 087 treasury shares. Between 1 January 2025 and 31 March 2025, Bekaert transferred 7 291 treasury shares to employees following the exercise of stock options under SOP 2015-2017. Additionally, 45 050 treasury shares were disposed of following the vesting of performance share units under the Bekaert performance share plan. Bekaert also sold 3 922 shares to members of the Bekaert Group Executive as part of the personal shareholding requirement. During the same period, Bekaert bought back 704 694 shares pursuant to the share buyback program. Including the transactions exercised under the liquidity agreement with Kepler Cheuvreux, the balance of treasury shares held by Bekaert on 31 March 2025 was 2 879 880 (5.30% of the total share capital). The total number of shares outstanding on 31 March 2025 is 54 286 986 shares including treasury shares and 51 407 106 excluding treasury shares.

Financial Calendar

Annual General Meeting of Shareholders	14 May 2025
Dividend ex-date	16 May 2025
Dividend record date	19 May 2025
Dividend payable	20 May 2025
Half Year Results 2025	31 July 2025
Third quarter trading update 2025	21 November 2025

Disclaimer

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Bekaert is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in light of new information, future events or otherwise. Bekaert disclaims any liability for statements made or published by third parties and does not undertake any obligation to correct inaccurate data, information, conclusions or opinions published by third parties in relation to this or any other press release issued by Bekaert.

Company profile

Bekaert's ambition is to be the leading partner for shaping the way we live and move, and to always do this in a way that is safe, smart, and sustainable. As a global market and technology leader in material science of steel wire transformation and coating technologies, Bekaert (bekaert.com) also applies its expertise beyond steel to create new solutions with innovative materials and services for markets including new mobility, sustainable construction, and energy transition. Founded in 1880, with its headquarters in Belgium, Bekaert (Euronext Brussels, BEKB) is a global technology company whose 21 000 employees worldwide together generated € 4.0 billion in consolidated sales in 2024.

Investor Relations

Guy Marks T +32 56 76 74 73 E-mail: guy.marks@bekaert.com

Press

Kim De Raedt T +32 56 76 60 16 E-mail: kim.deraedt@bekaert.com

bekaert.com